CAMPAIGN STATEMENT of Sheldon Smith
Candidate for VP of the

I am sure most of us know the name John Nance Garner, he of the famous quote regarding the value of being the Vice President, “The vice-presidency isn't worth a pitcher of warm p*ss.” John Nance Garner was wrong.

I have looked carefully at the duties of the VP of the . In case you’re not immediately familiar with them, they are:

1. Act in the absence of the President at all meetings;
2. Act as chairman for educational and special events, and
3. Perform additional duties as directed by the President or the Board.

I sincerely believe that there are many things that a VP can do. I know I can do them. The VP can be a cheer leader for the club; the VP can represent the club with the media, the VP can promote the club to other clubs, the VP can reach out to disaffected members, the VP can address concerns on the BBs, the list is ENDLESS! I can and will do these and many other positive things for the club if elected! In the years that Chris and I have been members of the we have seen a lot of changes, some for the good and, unfortunately, some for the bad.

Our club has been, and continues to be, in some amount of dire straits financially. Our club has had, and continues to have, a declining membership. Harry Rinker, noted author, TV personality, radio host, and an extraordinarily bright man in the antique and collectibles field, wrote an article recently, which was brought to my attention by one of our members. In his article, Mr. Rinker mused on the viability of a hobby based upon the numbers of members in a club linked directly to that hobby. He posited that if you had a certain amount of members you could extrapolate to a rough GUESTIMATE of the total number of people who were, at some levels, actively engaged in that collectible hobby. While he admitted that he had no firm basis upon which to rest the number, other than decades analyzing these trends, he felt that 20% was as good as any other. In other words, if a collectible club had 50 members in a certain collectible area, there were probably not more than a total of 250 people who were engaged in that hobby. Mr. Rinker hypothesized that the more members in the club, then the higher the overall number of people in the hobby. We have barely 1800 members but according to Mr. Rinker’s theory our hobby has at least 9000 active collectors, we need to go out and get them!

I believe I can make a difference in the long range viability of our club and that is why I am running for VP of the ! In the past several years I have participated in the club in several specific ways:

As Publicity Director, I significantly expanded the number of articles, placements and announcements regarding our club and the annual convention in national magazines and newspapers. Has it made a difference? I believe that the club’s increased publicity has indeed helped the club gain national attention.

As Education Director, I organize the Education Seminars at the convention. This duty has a direct correlation to the VP role as mandated in our bylaws. Have these seminars made a difference? I believe they have because many folks have expressly told me that one of the reasons they came to the convention was the interesting seminar topics and the presenters!

Also, within the last year, I achieved two goals which I believe provide a significant benefit to the club:

1. I was instrumental in bringing PAYPAL to the club. This provides an easier method of collecting dues and processing purchases from and for the club.

2. Also, I was able to bring the to eBay! Through eBay, the now has access to the world’s largest online marketplace – and it to us. We increase the buying public’s AWARENESS of our existence and that HELPS! In addition, we made this a Not-For-Profit under eBay rules which will allow members to donate items for sale and receive a tax donation letter. To date, we have not yet achieved having the club realize a “no final value fee” from eBay, but that’s a goal for next year.

I believe frankly, that some of the commentaries on Greg’s BB, (it will always be GREG’S), are a little too acerbic to respond to and I DO believe they drive potential new members away. I would hope that our hobby can withstand such commentaries as appear every so often, but I suspect in these difficult times less of that and more of friendship, helping and understanding would go a long way! I will help to promote reasonable discourse without rancor!

I am prepared to work tirelessly on behalf of the club to:

1. Recruit new members;

2. Continue as the Education Director until such time as we can find someone to step in;

3. Continue as the Publicity Director until such time as we can find someone to step in;

4. Continue to not only raise awareness of the club but also to raise money for our club by selling donated items on eBay.

I know there are members with specific ideas on how the club and our hobby can better itself and I welcome suggestions on what more I should/could/would do beyond the VP duties described in the by-laws. Throughout the years of my membership, I have tried to do my best for the and I will continue to do so!

I will listen, I will attend, I will help, and I will be the BEST VP I can be! Thank you for your consideration.

Sheldon Smith
Candidate for VP of the